DH and I just got home on Monday from a 5 day/4 night trip to AKV - without our 2 DS! Can you say MAGICAL! 
We flew into MCO late Thursday night and took ME to AKV. What a wonderful thing that is! I loved walking off the plane and getting right on to a bus without messing with our bags. HEAVENLY! We were checked in very quickly and had a studio overlooking the pool - and part of the savannah. The studios are so so nice - lots of room, great decor, and the views are just awesome!
Got up Friday am - enjoyed reading on the balcony until DH was up and ready to head out. We have APs, so we decided to head to Epcot for awhile so we could ride Spaceship Earth. That was the last day it was going to be open until the grand re-opening on the 18th. They did a really nice job on the ride! Our screen for the interactive part didn't work too well - but when we rode it a second time later in the day, we had no trouble.
We got to walk around all of the countries and really take in the buildings and exhibits - not something we get to do when our 2 DS are along! We kept laughing that we were seeing things we'd never noticed! We had lunch at the counter service place in Japan - we didn't even know that existed! I highly recommend it - the ginger salad is SO yummy - and the seating area is set off the beaten track - but you can still people watch!
After several hours of lounging by the pool in warm, high 70degree weather(which now feels depressing as I look at the ice field that is my yard at home!) we had dinner at Narcoisse (sp?) = WOW! We got to see the fireworks from the boat dock and then go right back in to finish our meal! There were EMH at Epcot, so we went and enjoyed them and rode SOARIN'
Saturday was another beautiful day - we went to Downtown Disney and then we made the mistake of going to Hollywood Studios. Now we knew when we went down that there was a cheerleading competition that weekend - we just had no idea what all that was going to mean. (Although the team that was on our flight down should have given me a good idea...
)
This is all I will say on the matter of the cheerleaders....I'm sure there were some really great girls/guys/teams there that were respectful to other guests. Unfortunately we didn't meet any of them. We managed to get the line cutters (one person waits in line and then the 15 other girls from her squad cut in with her after the rest of us have waited 30 min on more than one occassion) and the completely entitled ones (including blocking our luggage on the bus when were going to the parking lot at the airport - and then not lifting a finger to help move all of their gear and luggage, so we could unearth our bags they had buried on the bottom.)
Needless to say that was a bit frustrating..... but I digress....
Saturday night dinner was at JIKO - which was also a hit! Our waiter, Ron, was wonderful with suggestions!
Sunday we enjoyed the Animal Kingdom - the weather was beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We went back and ate by the pool - I love AKVs pool - there are plenty of areas to sit and the views are just wonderful! I love all the plants and little nooks where they have chairs - its very peaceful!
Sunday night's dinner was the highlight of our trip. If you have never done this, you MUST MUST do it! We had dinner on top of the Contemporary at California Grill. We had heard wonderful reviews and decided this was the time to try it! We had 7:30 reservations and the fireworks over Cinderella's castle started at 8 - it was, by far, one of the most amazing memories I will ever have from a Disney trip! The food was outstanding and the views were breathtaking!
We went back for EMH at Magic Kingdom and got to ride Space Mountain - since it will be closed for our next two trips - it was so fun! I can't wait to see what they do with the new ride. The crowds were fairly light.
Monday brought "the sadness". We checked out and checked our bags and headed back to studios to ride Rock n Roll Roller Coaster and then took the walk back to Beach Club and then on into Epcot for Fish n Chips. Yum. The counter service was closed (broken fryers) - but we were able to order at the pub and then eat them outside. We sat back behind the counter service place - there are tables with umbrellas and a beautiful view of the water and all the countries... we sat there an soaked it in for a long time! We caught the bus back to AKV and got ready to come home.
Three quick things:
1. The bus service - both ME and within Disney was wonderful. We had great experiences (save coming back to AKV from the studios after Fantasmic on Saturday night - the bus driver missed the AKV stop and ended up in the wrong space. I guess once they are pulled into a space they have to take whoever is at that stop to their hotel and we had to just wait for the next AKV bus. I don't think it happens very often - but there was a LONG line waiting when the next AKV bus pulled up about 15 minutes later.)
2. If you have the opportunity to do an Adult only trip - DO IT! We had such a wonderful time - we were so amazed at all the "new" things we saw - things that we have missed or skipped when we have our young boys along. We LOVE taking our boys to Disney -thus the reason we bought DVC - but we've now discovered that it is a great place for just the two of us to escape to, too!
3. The construction on Kadani seems to be FLYING! We couldn't believe how much had been accomplished since new pictures were posted on the Dis boards early last week. It looks like it is going to be just AMAZING! I have lots of pictures, but I don't know if I can post them. If someone wants to tell me how to post them, I'll do it!
We flew into MCO late Thursday night and took ME to AKV. What a wonderful thing that is! I loved walking off the plane and getting right on to a bus without messing with our bags. HEAVENLY! We were checked in very quickly and had a studio overlooking the pool - and part of the savannah. The studios are so so nice - lots of room, great decor, and the views are just awesome!
Got up Friday am - enjoyed reading on the balcony until DH was up and ready to head out. We have APs, so we decided to head to Epcot for awhile so we could ride Spaceship Earth. That was the last day it was going to be open until the grand re-opening on the 18th. They did a really nice job on the ride! Our screen for the interactive part didn't work too well - but when we rode it a second time later in the day, we had no trouble.
We got to walk around all of the countries and really take in the buildings and exhibits - not something we get to do when our 2 DS are along! We kept laughing that we were seeing things we'd never noticed! We had lunch at the counter service place in Japan - we didn't even know that existed! I highly recommend it - the ginger salad is SO yummy - and the seating area is set off the beaten track - but you can still people watch!
After several hours of lounging by the pool in warm, high 70degree weather(which now feels depressing as I look at the ice field that is my yard at home!) we had dinner at Narcoisse (sp?) = WOW! We got to see the fireworks from the boat dock and then go right back in to finish our meal! There were EMH at Epcot, so we went and enjoyed them and rode SOARIN'
Saturday was another beautiful day - we went to Downtown Disney and then we made the mistake of going to Hollywood Studios. Now we knew when we went down that there was a cheerleading competition that weekend - we just had no idea what all that was going to mean. (Although the team that was on our flight down should have given me a good idea...
)This is all I will say on the matter of the cheerleaders....I'm sure there were some really great girls/guys/teams there that were respectful to other guests. Unfortunately we didn't meet any of them. We managed to get the line cutters (one person waits in line and then the 15 other girls from her squad cut in with her after the rest of us have waited 30 min on more than one occassion) and the completely entitled ones (including blocking our luggage on the bus when were going to the parking lot at the airport - and then not lifting a finger to help move all of their gear and luggage, so we could unearth our bags they had buried on the bottom.)
Needless to say that was a bit frustrating..... but I digress....Saturday night dinner was at JIKO - which was also a hit! Our waiter, Ron, was wonderful with suggestions!
Sunday we enjoyed the Animal Kingdom - the weather was beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We went back and ate by the pool - I love AKVs pool - there are plenty of areas to sit and the views are just wonderful! I love all the plants and little nooks where they have chairs - its very peaceful!
Sunday night's dinner was the highlight of our trip. If you have never done this, you MUST MUST do it! We had dinner on top of the Contemporary at California Grill. We had heard wonderful reviews and decided this was the time to try it! We had 7:30 reservations and the fireworks over Cinderella's castle started at 8 - it was, by far, one of the most amazing memories I will ever have from a Disney trip! The food was outstanding and the views were breathtaking!
We went back for EMH at Magic Kingdom and got to ride Space Mountain - since it will be closed for our next two trips - it was so fun! I can't wait to see what they do with the new ride. The crowds were fairly light.
Monday brought "the sadness". We checked out and checked our bags and headed back to studios to ride Rock n Roll Roller Coaster and then took the walk back to Beach Club and then on into Epcot for Fish n Chips. Yum. The counter service was closed (broken fryers) - but we were able to order at the pub and then eat them outside. We sat back behind the counter service place - there are tables with umbrellas and a beautiful view of the water and all the countries... we sat there an soaked it in for a long time! We caught the bus back to AKV and got ready to come home.
Three quick things:
1. The bus service - both ME and within Disney was wonderful. We had great experiences (save coming back to AKV from the studios after Fantasmic on Saturday night - the bus driver missed the AKV stop and ended up in the wrong space. I guess once they are pulled into a space they have to take whoever is at that stop to their hotel and we had to just wait for the next AKV bus. I don't think it happens very often - but there was a LONG line waiting when the next AKV bus pulled up about 15 minutes later.)
2. If you have the opportunity to do an Adult only trip - DO IT! We had such a wonderful time - we were so amazed at all the "new" things we saw - things that we have missed or skipped when we have our young boys along. We LOVE taking our boys to Disney -thus the reason we bought DVC - but we've now discovered that it is a great place for just the two of us to escape to, too!
3. The construction on Kadani seems to be FLYING! We couldn't believe how much had been accomplished since new pictures were posted on the Dis boards early last week. It looks like it is going to be just AMAZING! I have lots of pictures, but I don't know if I can post them. If someone wants to tell me how to post them, I'll do it!
We are doing all the great adult things too. The first night it is Raglan Road and Adventurers Club, the second day it is Aquatica, Jiko for dinner and then Cirque for the evening, the next day we are doing Discovery Cove and then California Grill with a fireworks seating, the next day it is Epcot to see all the things we never noticed without our kids also
with a nice dinner at Chefs de France. I swear I am more excited about this trip to WDW than my honeymoon!!!!!
We did some of the very same things you did recently...Dinner at Jikos and California Grill for instance. I also love the AKV pool!!!
